Retired teacher inspires others to take risks after finding passion in watercolor painting
(CLEBURNE, Texas – Sept. 10, 2024) There she was, out $25 and sitting in a class she had no intention of being in. She was surrounded by other women her age who had been painting for decades. Like a baby learning to walk, she felt wobbly when she picked up the paintbrush. She didn’t know what to expect with watercolor painting, and she would soon learn what she would gain from it.
She started with a stroke of pink on her canvas, then violet, then back to pink. She layered her flower petals then dabbed the paper with a soft green to fill the background. She went home that day knowing that a new world of opportunities had opened for her.
Cleburne local Terri White took her first watercolor painting class at 74 years old. She quickly found that she had a knack for it. Although she had never taken a class in painting, she felt as though she had done it before. It became instantly natural to her.
White was looking for a way to fill her free time after retiring from teaching in May 2023. She had no plans of picking up any specific hobby. Not until her friend asked her to come to a watercolor painting class.
“I just needed to kind of get my feet wet and figure out what life was going to be like post-retirement,” she says. “You never know if you are going to have a knack for something if you don’t try.”
White, who was a homeschool teacher and director for 40 years, has become a student again in the painting classroom. She’s fallen in love with the way paint colors collide and blend into each other. Every bead of water has its own journey that she guides through her paint and brush.
Another part of the process is building her fleet of water coloring tools. At first glance, all that is needed is a paintbrush, water, and a choice of paint. White found that she could use relatively anything when watercolor painting: Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, rug stoppers, her grandkids’ toys and textured pallets.
“Another tool is Viva paper towels, no other kind of paper towels,” White adds. “You can take a little wedge of paper towel and then tap tap tap and lighten that up if you don’t want it so dark.”
While White uses all kinds of tools for her creations, her most expensive paintbrushes are made from squirrel hair. These brushes can be as expensive at $55 per brush, according to Natural Pigments.
White finds herself mostly painting flowers and trees. Inspired by nature’s ability to create unique spectacles in plants, she relates it back to watercolor painting.
“My favorite thing about watercolor painting is that it doesn’t have to be so precise,” she says. “You don’t care if its raggedy or has light spots.”
She finds comfort knowing that nature is not perfect. Gliding, tapping, splattering; she has the freedom to choose. The sky is truly the limit.
In a previous class, she had an assignment to paint a butterfly. As she finished the last strokes of her painting, she felt like she botched it. Before throwing it away, she decided to take a risk. She went straight for the scissors and chopped her butterfly to bits. Unknowing of where her mind would take her, she glued each piece of the butterfly to a black canvas. She created a new piece of art that looks like sun shining through a stained-glass window.
“Our teacher said never throw away a painting you don’t like,” she explains. “Just put it in the closet and maybe you will like it in six months. And if not, you can do something different, and so that’s what I did with it.”
White’s art teacher, Ann Winchester, teaches at the JN Long Cultural Arts Center in Cleburne. Established in 2011, the art center offers over 30 class for different hobbies like painting, pottery, martial arts, music and more. It also has photography clubs and an art guild, according to Cleburne Cultural Arts.
Through creation and regeneration, there is no start or end to art. After two years with her new hobby, White inspires other friends and family to try watercolor painting. She shows others that even the most skeptical person can surprise themselves with a new passion.
“I could have lost $25 (on that first class). OK, I can live with that, but it didn’t happen that way,” she exclaims. “My motto is to feel the fear and do it anyway.”
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Retired teacher and Cleburne local finds a new passion for watercolor painting and wants you to know that trying new things can lead to new passions. #art #retired
Photo Captions:
Vertical: Terri White’s studio is filled with her artwork and other pieces created by her family and friends.
Horizontal: Terri White started her watercolor painting hobby with just one paint pallet and two brushes. She now has three pallets, multiple brush sets and various paintings.
Media Outlets:
Cleburne Times Review- Because this is a local story to Cleburne, I figured this would be a great story to share with the community. They often do feature stories about residents or locals, and I think they would be interested in this story.
Retirement Genius- I searched on Muck Rack for media outlets that focus on older adults that are retired, and Retirement Genius focuses on lifestyle activities for people who are retired. I think this could be a good story to encourage those who are retired to try a new hobby or to highlight different retirement lifestyles.